Volodymyr Zelensky made the appeal in an address to the Ukrainian people on Sunday night, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported.
‘This winter brings us closer to victory’
The Ukrainian president said: “The fourth day of this winter is coming to an end. The winter, which will obviously be difficult. But still, it is worth perceiving this winter not as a test, but as time - time that brings us closer to the main thing - to victory. Each of these 90 winter days.”
Zelensky warned: “The enemy really hopes to use winter against us: to make winter cold and hardship part of his terror. We have to do everything to endure this winter, no matter how hard it is. And we will endure. To endure this winter is to defend everything.”
Ukraine has ‘the strongest motivation possible’
Ukraine’s president told the nation: “Russia still has missiles and an advantage in artillery. Yes, but we have something that the occupier does not have and will not have. We defend our home, and that gives us the strongest motivation possible.”
He added: “We fight for freedom, and that always multiplies any force. We defend the truth, and this unites the whole world around Ukraine.”
“We see happy people when they meet the Ukrainian flag in liberated cities - wherever Ukraine returns. The people, the Armed Forces, all of us return,” Zelensky said.
He stressed: “And this means they are waiting for us wherever there is still an occupation. They are waiting and they believe that Ukraine will return. They are waiting and they know very well: if Russia invades, it will not be forever.”
‘To get through the winter, we have to be more united than ever’
Zelensky called to his compatriots “to help each other more than ever and care for each other even more” to get through the winter months.
He added: “And please don't ask if you can help, and how. Just help when you see you can.”
The Ukrainian president emphasised: “To get through the winter, we have to be even more resilient and even more united than ever. There can be no internal conflicts and strife, which can weaken us all, even if someone out there thinks that somehow it will strengthen him personally. We need more interaction than ever.”
Zelensky urged: “All of Ukraine has to become one big Point of Invincibility and work every day, work every night. The state, business, people - all of us, Ukrainians, all together.”
Monday is day 285 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: president.gov.ua, pravda.com.ua